How Microsoft Makes Profits

Vince53

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MS makes profits by selling copies of Windows.

The more copies of Windows that MS sells, the more profit MS makes.

Most people buy some version of Windows when they buy a new computer, and MS then makes a profit.

But most people don't buy a new computer until they need one, delaying MS's profits.

If MS can come up with a good new OS, people will buy it for their current computer, thus increasing MS's profits.

If the New OS forces users to buy a new computer powerful enough to operate it, MS will still make an extra profit. But that strategy failed with Windows Vista.

If Win 8 is popular on touchscreen devices, people will buy more touchscreen devices, increasing MS's profits.

By pressuring you to use Metro, MS prepares you to buy smaller touchscreen devices running Win 8, and this will increase MS's profits.

So MS knows what it's doing. It is setting you up to buy various smaller devices that will run Win 8, and thus they will increase their profits.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
So in a nutshell, you're saying you don't believe in progress and companies making profits. Maybe they should do what RIM and Nokia have done, just sit back and go broke.
This is an ever changing world my friend, adapt or die.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro/Windows 8 Pro/Windows 7 64 Bit64Bit/Windows XP
Companies should make profits, but not at the expense of making its software artificially demanding on hardware so all consumers must fork over more money unnecessarily.
 

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@gman, what about adding an S to the end of a name to sell more products, or changing the headlights, or any number of little tricks companies use. For some reason Microsoft seems to be under the microscope more than any other company on the planet. When Apple does the same thing, everyone thinks its magical or innovative. Apple can do no wrong MS does everything wrong. I just find the whole thing amusing.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro/Windows 8 Pro/Windows 7 64 Bit64Bit/Windows XP
Yeah, I always say how dumb it seems to spend all that money on Apple hardware when it cost so much compared to the equivalent pc hardware.

Eh...there are good companies and bad. For instance, along the lines of what you're saying...it is extremely easy to make your average incandescent light bulb last a whole century or longer. They artificially shorten their lives so you, I and everyone else that buys them have to keep replacing them.

YouTube has videos about it and related facts. There's even a firehouse that has a bulb going non-stop since 1901, when the bulb was made before the conspiracy began in 1924: Longest Burning Light Bulb | At 107, still a real live wire - Los Angeles Times

light bulb conspiracy - YouTube

So no, MS is not alone.

Specific video about iPods, bulbs and planned obsolescence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D56nut_9e8s
 

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System One

  • OS
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    MSI-7211
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"So no, MS is not alone"
Thats exactly what I'm trying to get at, every company has to try to do something to keep you buying, but for some reason everyone dumps on Microsoft for doing it. If they add stuff in, they're wrong, if they take stuff out they're wrong.
Apple can do whatever it likes and everyone sticks up for them. It's just a hate Microsoft world out there, I know, I go to quite a few different forums.
Every blogger on every tech site always makes at least one snide comment about Microsoft, even when most of the review is good, they always come out with something to rubbish MS at the end.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro/Windows 8 Pro/Windows 7 64 Bit64Bit/Windows XP
Or....

You can just upgrade to Windows 8 on a NON-TOUCH system and Microsoft still gets profit. I don't know if you realize, but nothing is being pressured on you.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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    ASUS
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    AMD FX 8320
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    Crosshair V Formula-Z
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    16 gig DDR3
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    ASUS R9 270
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    1440x900
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    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
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    OCZ 500 watt
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    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
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    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
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    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
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    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
Or....

You can just upgrade to Windows 8 on a NON-TOUCH system and Microsoft still gets profit. I don't know if you realize, but nothing is being pressured on you.

Exactly right, if people were getting pressured, why is XP still at over 40% of the market. If at the moment you don't like or hate Windows 8, stick with, dare I say it XP, no, I mean Windows 7, but don't tear MS to pieces because it has to stay ahead of the curve.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro/Windows 8 Pro/Windows 7 64 Bit64Bit/Windows XP
Exactly right, if people were getting pressured, why is XP still at over 40% of the market. If at the moment you don't like or hate Windows 8, stick with, dare I say it XP, no, I mean Windows 7, but don't tear MS to pieces because it has to stay ahead of the curve.

I think it's a terrible step by them though, to have downgraded the desktop OS experience into one that belongs on some junky handheld screen. Junk should not influence how a real computer is used, nor should future hardware junk (touch on pc) that is only going to prove to be a fad.

Then I get to thinking: How awesome would 8 be if there never were such things as tablets or handheld mini screens and instead, they continued the development as if it really was a computer OS.
 

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System One

  • OS
    8250 x86 + 7 SP1 x86 + Ubuntu 12.04 LTS x86
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    P4 3.4 GHz HT
    Motherboard
    MSI-7211
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    OCZ 2 GB DDR @ 400 MHz
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    2 MByte/sec Down, 250 KByte/sec Up
"I think it's a terrible step by them though, to have downgraded the desktop OS experience into one that belongs on some junky handheld screen. Junk should not influence how a real computer is used, nor should future hardware junk (touch on pc) that is only going to prove to be a fad.

Then I get to thinking: How awesome would 8 be if there never were such things as tablets or handheld mini screens and instead, they continued the development as if it really was a computer OS."

Have you seen how much Apple is making out of junky handheld screens, and I don't think they're going to be a fad. Someone actually said that about computers many years ago. If there were no competition, no iPones, no iPads, no Android phones and no Android tablets, I would agree with everything you say, but it's not the case.
Microsoft is getting trashed in phones and tablets and eventually that is going to eat into their market share in a big way. They can stick with Windows 7 and WP7, but in a few years they'll be where Yahoo is now.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro/Windows 8 Pro/Windows 7 64 Bit64Bit/Windows XP
Or....

You can just upgrade to Windows 8 on a NON-TOUCH system and Microsoft still gets profit. I don't know if you realize, but nothing is being pressured on you.

And that, Robert, is the idea. Instead of waiting until you buy a new computer to buy a copy of Windows, you'll buy one now. That increases MS's profits.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
The only reason why tablets and iphones are so "trendy" is not because the consumers asked for them but instead it's because the companies "created" a demand through marketing. They have told you that you NEED that product because it is what the other useless eaters have.

Sheeple...baaaaa, baaaaa.....
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 7 home premium 64 bit
Folks, I MIGHT have figured out MS's marketing plan, but it will take more than one post.

MS has conceded defeat with office desktops. Windows XP remains the most popular OS in the world, and it costs less to keep repairing XP computers than it does to buy new OSes and pay for new software. Vista (which is better than XP IF you have a powerful enough computer) is more popular than every Mac OS combined. And Windows 7, like the other two, pretty well does everything that an office computer needs.

In other words, there is little that MS can do to improve the Windows systems being used in offices. They have conceded defeat in that area, and your office computer does not need to upgrade to Windows 8.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
They are not conceding defeat. They completely own that area, they are declaring victory actually. They are declaring that they can no do anything and it won't affect their 500-600 million desktop seat licenses at all.

What they are trying to do is get into growth areas that they are completely missing in and they are /using/ that desktop market dominance to get people into it. Since they couldn't do it "Naturally" they are going to use Windows desktop users and Windows 8 as a giant shoehorn to push people into a windows portable universe by making your desktop look and act like one.

It's either completely brilliant or completely insane.
 

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System One

  • OS
    Windows 7/8

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64/ Windows 7 Ult x64
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    PC/Desktop
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    Desktop: eSATA ports,
    External eSATA Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200rpm,
Windows 8 does not require any new hardware to run it than did Windows 7 or Vista. In fact, Windows 8 uses fewer resources than Windows 7 and runs better on older hardware. The only "new" feature that might require new hardware is touch screens, but you don't need a touch screen to use Windows 8.

Having said that, most people do not upgrade their OS. Ever. They upgrade their OS by buying a new computer. That's just the way it works for 99.9% of users. The upgrade market is very small for Microsoft.
 

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  • OS
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    Antec SOLO II
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    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
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    Logitech MX

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
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    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
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    nVidia GTX 650
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    Onboard Audio
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    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
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    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
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    Antec SOLO II
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    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
Or....

You can just upgrade to Windows 8 on a NON-TOUCH system and Microsoft still gets profit. I don't know if you realize, but nothing is being pressured on you.

And that, Robert, is the idea. Instead of waiting until you buy a new computer to buy a copy of Windows, you'll buy one now. That increases MS's profits.

Hi there
Profits are generated by ANY corporation on this planet selling a product (or parts of a product) for less than they paid for the material to produce the product and the cost of developing it (plus extraneous distribution costs etc).

There really isn't a conspiracy theory here.

Ms on the whole is an exceedingly well run company producing viable products and has in most of its major offices around the world decent facilities a lot of other people would sell their souls for.

It's not the "Evil Empire" at all -- in fact if you look how open it is with 3rd party hardware suppliers you'll soon realize that perhaps a lot of this type of criticism should be directed at Apple instead.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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To be honest although Microsoft does get attacked I don't think everyone is in love with Apple. I still remember in school when I read about the iPad people were saying how it was like a bigger iPhone and there were a lot of critiques. But let's face it everyone wants money. Whether it's Microsoft or Apple or Google. Microsoft needs to break into these new growing markets. The tablet was there before the iPad just that there wasn't enough marketing or development for that market until the iPad was released where they were able to tap into a market for that product. Microsoft was able to saturate the desktop market because they allowed people to use their software on different hardware whereas Mac kept all these choices to themselves. There is advantages and disadvantages to this of course. The reason for windows 8 to have the whole touch based mobile side was they needed a tablet operating system. They had a phone version that they needed to be expanded into use for tablet. They are trying to capture the mobile market in phones and tablet. Overall I don't think Microsoft is any more worse than Apple as they are both trying to make money. In the end as long as they create a good product and have good marketing they will sell. Microsoft just needs a better marketing department and maybe a better design department but they have the other necessary resources to create a good product.
 

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Yeah, I always say how dumb it seems to spend all that money on Apple hardware when it cost so much compared to the equivalent pc hardware.

Eh...there are good companies and bad. For instance, along the lines of what you're saying...it is extremely easy to make your average incandescent light bulb last a whole century or longer. They artificially shorten their lives so you, I and everyone else that buys them have to keep replacing them.

YouTube has videos about it and related facts. There's even a firehouse that has a bulb going non-stop since 1901, when the bulb was made before the conspiracy began in 1924: Longest Burning Light Bulb | At 107, still a real live wire - Los Angeles Times

light bulb conspiracy - YouTube

So no, MS is not alone.

Specific video about iPods, bulbs and planned obsolescence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D56nut_9e8s

Silliness.

20,000 hour 60W bulb, 560 lumens:

LT 60A19/FR/20M 120V #L128A #L-128A | LITETRONICS | Incandescent

1000 hour 60W bulb, 850 lumens:

OS 60A/W/RP 120V #11208 | OSRAM SYLVANIA | Incandescent

It's easy to make incandescent bulbs last for a long time, as long as you don't care about efficency. (The 1000 hour lamp above is about 1.5X as efficient as the 20k hour one.)
 

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System One

  • OS
    Window 8 Pro
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    homebuilt
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    Asus P9X79 Pro
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    Noctua NH-D14 w/ PWM fans
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    cheap Logitech USB wired
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    old 5 button Microsoft USB optical
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    6Mb cable
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